LOTTERY TO BE HELD FOR THOSE WISHING TO ATTEND ANNUAL TOUR OF CRANBERRY BOG STATE NATURE PRESERVE: OH

Article Posted: April 17, 2008

LOTTERY TO BE HELD FOR THOSE WISHING TO ATTEND ANNUAL TOUR OF CRANBERRY BOG STATE NATURE PRESERVE

Tour is scheduled for Saturday, June 21, at Buckeye Lake's north shore

COLUMBUS, OH - Nature enthusiasts throughout Ohio are encouraged to enter a lottery to tour Ohio's only floating island - Cranberry Bog State Nature Preserve in Buckeye Lake - during the bog's annual open house from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 21.

Attendance at this popular open house is limited in an effort to curtail potential damage to the bog's delicate sphagnum moss surface, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Natural Areas and Preserves.

Anyone interested in touring the bog on June 21 should send a postcard to the ODNR Division of Natural Areas & Preserves, 2045 Morse Road, Bldg. F-1, Columbus, Ohio 43229. Postcards must be postmarked by May 31 and contain the following information: contact name, address with zip code, daytime phone number and total number of people in the party (not to exceed four). Only one postcard will be accepted per family.

The lottery drawing will be held in early June, and winners will be notified by mail. Boat transportation to and from the island on the day of the tour will be provided by the Greater Buckeye Lake Historical Society. Donations are encouraged.

Cranberry Bog is one of Ohio's most unique natural areas. The 11-acre island, located approximately 100 yards off the north shore of Buckeye Lake in Fairfield County, was registered as a National Natural Landmark in 1968. Its unique composition gives the island a spongy surface, therefore visitors are required to remain on the boardwalk.

The island dates from 1830 when Buckeye Lake was created as a feeder reservoir for the Ohio & Erie Canal. A 50-acre portion of the lake's bed, once a thriving sphagnum bog, broke loose and rose with the waters. Cranberry Bog is what remains of that portion after nearly two centuries.

Rare orchids and an abundance of cranberry and pitcher plants grow wild on the island, as well as tawny cottongrass, mud sedge and round-leafed sundew. The island's grass-pink and rose pogonia orchids are traditionally at their peak in June.

Aside from the annual open house, visitation to Cranberry Bog State Nature Preserve is by written permit only. For more information, visit ohiodnr.com/dnap